Jewel 11nt Ultimate Carib. + Panama?

[Newbcruiser1]

Does anyone have any opinions on this cruise/itinerary? We've been on the Radiance and liked the ship, and all of these ports are new to us except Grand Cayman. The price looks decent too. Any thoughts?

 

Dec 13 - Depart Ft. Lauderdale - 5pm

Dec 14 - At Sea

Dec 15 - At Sea

Dec 16 - Oranjestad, Aruba - 7am-3pm

Dec 17 - Cartagena, Colombia - 12pm-7pm

Dec 18 - At Sea

Dec 19 - Colon, Panama - 8am-6pm

Dec 20 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - 7am-7pm

Dec 21 - At Sea

Dec 22 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman - 7am-6pm

Dec 23 - At Sea

Dec 24 - Arrive Ft. Lauderdale - 7am

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[TPCRUISER2]

Just did this cruise in january, would do it again!

[negc]

We love the Jewel and if the ports are new to you and are places you would enjoy visiting, book it.:)

[unberwoob]

Great cruise and fabulous ports. The Jewel is our favorite ship.

[KeyOfSea]

We plan to take this cruise in Jan. 2012 (praying that it will still be offered). I will feel so much better once it's booked. :D

[dmrmcr]

We did this cruise March 15th. Had a great time and great weather. Love the Jewel and crew.

[tracysue]

we are going in February - more info would be great - what did you do in ports? what would you recommend?

thanks all! :p

[NorbertsNiece]

Did very similar itinerary March 2009. Loved every minute. Link to blog in sig below.

[LisaH]

We were supposed to have been on the 10-night version on March 26 but had to cancel.

 

The Jewel is our favorite ship and I would like to do this cruise at some point.

 

Anyone from the March 26th cruise posting a review? How was it?

[K1200S]

We did this cruise a year ago and it was worth every penny we paid. We hadn't been to any of the ports either except GC so it was new to us. The crew was terrific and we made some wonderful friends.

[kpauley]

We were supposed to have been on the 10-night version on March 26 but had to cancel.

 

Anyone from the March 26th cruise posting a review? How was it?

 

Hi Lisa! Sorry you couldn’t make the cruise with us. We had a great time on the Jewel. Our CC group had some great shore excursions that we participated in together. I think the biggest “complaint” most of us had from the Roll Call was kids run amuck which seems to be the norm on Spring Break sailings anymore.:(

 

Newbcruiser1 - We just returned from the 10day version of the sailing so we went to Labadee instead of Aruba. One of the reasons we choose this sailing was the ports. For us, Columbia, Panama, and Costa Rica were all new and we did some shore excursions that were great. Our waiter, David, and his assistant, Drazen, were the best pair we’ve had on a cruise in a LONG time. Our water glasses were never empty. I would recommend this itinerary if you haven’t been to these ports before. Overall, the crew and ship were great.:)

 

tracysue - As for shore excursions - in Columbia we did a city tour with Dora. This city has a lot of history and she is a great guide. She is very knowledgeable, personable, and speaks English quite well. Check out her reviews on the Ports of Call board. We called this our Travel Channel Stop. Next, we did the Embera Indian Village Tour in Panama with myfriendmario. Once again, a great choice. We called this our National Geographic excursion. And last but not least, we did Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica through Oscar Brown. This was our “thrill”/near death excursion. While this was a “wild” experience and we enjoyed it, I might rethink rafting in a foreign country again.

[kyriecat]

My folks were on Jewel last year when it was still entering the Canal and enjoyed the trip although they didn't really care for Cartegna much.

 

I originally had that itinerary booked for next year since I really love the Radiance class ships. However, after discussions with my hubby (the cruise is for his birthday) we decided that actually going through the locks to Gatun Lake onboard the cruise ship was more important to us than the ship so we switched to a different cruiseline.

[Newbcruiser1]

Thank you so much for all of your opinions (and great blog, NorbertsNiece!).

 

Just a couple more specific questions...

 

Does that itinerary tend to be more rocky than the more usual eastern/western itineraries? Any major weather differences?

 

Are the demographics on the cruise the same as RCI eastern/western itineraries or is there a difference in the average age?

 

Any other tidbits of info would be appreciated as well. We likely won't book it this far in advance since I just realized how high the deposits are, but will keep an eye on it and continue researching!

[LisaH]

Hi Lisa! Sorry you couldn’t make the cruise with us. We had a great time on the Jewel. Our CC group had some great shore excursions that we participated in together. I think the biggest “complaint” most of us had from the Roll Call was kids run amuck which seems to be the norm on Spring Break sailings anymore.:(

 

Newbcruiser1 - We just returned from the 10day version of the sailing so we went to Labadee instead of Aruba. One of the reasons we choose this sailing was the ports. For us, Columbia, Panama, and Costa Rica were all new and we did some shore excursions that were great. Our waiter, David, and his assistant, Drazen, were the best pair we’ve had on a cruise in a LONG time. Our water glasses were never empty. I would recommend this itinerary if you haven’t been to these ports before. Overall, the crew and ship were great.:)

 

tracysue - As for shore excursions - in Columbia we did a city tour with Dora. This city has a lot of history and she is a great guide. She is very knowledgeable, personable, and speaks English quite well. Check out her reviews on the Ports of Call board. We called this our Travel Channel Stop. Next, we did the Embera Indian Village Tour in Panama with myfriendmario. Once again, a great choice. We called this our National Geographic excursion. And last but not least, we did Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica through Oscar Brown. This was our “thrill”/near death excursion. While this was a “wild” experience and we enjoyed it, I might rethink rafting in a foreign country again.

 

Hey KPAULEY! Thanks for the info. And now I am so glad we did cancel as we try to avoid Spring Break cruises for that reason but this one was so cheap...I would rather pay more I think. Or maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better that we had to miss it. :)

 

But we will be on Oasis in November. Glad you all had a great time!

[kpauley]

We likely won't book it this far in advance since I just realized how high the deposits are, but will keep an eye on it and continue researching!

 

If RCL follows their pattern from last year, they will have a WOW sale in May and October. During the WOW sale, they have 1/2 price deposits along with shipboard credit assuming the sale is the same as before. Just keep an eye on this board and someone will post when they see the sale.

[kpauley]

Hey KPAULEY! Thanks for the info. And now I am so glad we did cancel as we try to avoid Spring Break cruises for that reason but this one was so cheap...I would rather pay more I think. Or maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better that we had to miss it. :)

 

But we will be on Oasis in November. Glad you all had a great time!

 

Lisa - Since we have kids and can only travel during "breaks", I've grown use to the Spring Break crowd. I told my husband after we got off this cruise we only had one more year and we didn't have to go by a school schedule. :D Can't wait to travel during non-peak dates.

[harry0]

We did the 10 day in Feb. The cruise was great but we did not like the itinerary. We decided the Southern route from San Juan is much better. We are beach people and go to relax-Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica are great countries with some great history but not the typical stops we enjoy. The weather was not great-it rained in every port but the Sea days were sunny and hot-Even if the weather was perfect this was a one and done trip for us.

[tispwisp]

We did the same itinerary in 2004 (minus the Colombia port) a 10 day on the Brilliance. The Brilliance is my favorite ship. We enjoyed it so much that we booked the 11-day Jewel cruise next year for my birthday! Can't wait!

[Newbcruiser1]

Just thought I'd check if anyone has answers to my previous 2 questions which got lost in the shuffle! :)

 

Does that itinerary tend to be more rocky than the more usual eastern/western itineraries? Any major weather differences?

 

Are the demographics on the cruise the same as RCI eastern/western itineraries or is there a difference in the average age?

 

Thanks again!!!

[LisaH]

Just thought I'd check if anyone has answers to my previous 2 questions which got lost in the shuffle! :)

 

Does that itinerary tend to be more rocky than the more usual eastern/western itineraries? Any major weather differences?

 

Are the demographics on the cruise the same as RCI eastern/western itineraries or is there a difference in the average age?

 

Thanks again!!!

 

I think the age demographic is a bit older on the PC itineraries but we LOVE cruising with the older crowd. THe longer the cruise too, the older the crowd.

[mikefast]

We are planning on leaving on the Jewel the 26th of this month. We have been to all of the ports, just not on the Jewel. For me, however, the ultimate destination is the ship. I really don't care which ports we go to. In Cartegena, we took a cab to the old Fort. In Puerto Limon, we took a jungle river tour. In Panama, when we went, we went through three locks into Lake Gatun, then stopped in Colon on the way back, just did some shopping there at the dock. Grand Cayman, took a trip to the turtle farm, and a little sightseeing on the island. And of course shopping. My wife is a natural born shopper. I loved all of the places. This time, we don't have any tours booked, we will just kind of play it by ear. Probably just get off the ship so my wife can do some more shopping. We enjoy being on the ship when most of the people are gone. We spend time in the pools, the hot tubs, and just laying in the sun.

[kpauley]

Just thought I'd check if anyone has answers to my previous 2 questions which got lost in the shuffle! :)

 

Does that itinerary tend to be more rocky than the more usual eastern/western itineraries? Any major weather differences?

 

Are the demographics on the cruise the same as RCI eastern/western itineraries or is there a difference in the average age?

 

Thanks again!!!

 

Having just returned, I’ll answer with my experience which will probably be different than sailing in mid-December.

 

There was only one night that I would consider “rockiness” and it was pretty minimal at best. Otherwise, we had a smooth ride. In Columbia it was HOT and HUMID - 90 degrees with 90% humidity!:eek: When returning to the ship, they were passing out cool washcloths and water prior to boarding. The other stops, temps in 80’s, partly cloudy - perfect.

 

On our sailing, we had over 500 passengers under the age of 18! So this sailing had a younger demographic due to Spring Break.

[NavarreCruiser]

We were supposed to have been on the 10-night version on March 26 but had to cancel.

 

The Jewel is our favorite ship and I would like to do this cruise at some point.

 

Anyone from the March 26th cruise posting a review? How was it?

 

We were on the March 26th cruise. It was wonderful. Food seemed better than it has lately. The weather was nice. It was overcast most days, which made it great in port cuz it wasn't so hot. The crew was great. Chris, the cd, was the best we've ever had, out of 35 cruises. We even got a call from headquarters to see how the cruise went and we told them how wonderful he is.

 

A couple of things bothered us a little. They took my husband's 1 inch swiss army knife. They wouldn't let us on the ship if we didn't do the purell. And finally we changed time for one day at port. We asked the captain why and he said too many people were getting left at port. Well even the crew were not happy about this. Thanks, Lynda

[2catfamily]

We were on the March 26th cruise. It was wonderful. Food seemed better than it has lately. The weather was nice. It was overcast most days, which made it great in port cuz it wasn't so hot. The crew was great. Chris, the cd, was the best we've ever had, out of 35 cruises. We even got a call from headquarters to see how the cruise went and we told them how wonderful he is.

 

A couple of things bothered us a little. They took my husband's 1 inch swiss army knife. They wouldn't let us on the ship if we didn't do the purell. And finally we changed time for one day at port. We asked the captain why and he said too many people were getting left at port. Well even the crew were not happy about this. Thanks, Lynda

 

I agree Chris was very good and so was his assistant Steve! Actually the whole crew staff was great! They had game shows and the 'thriller dance" I have never seen on any other ship. Did you get to see it?

[toonye]

Hi!

 

We have booked this cruise for our easter break 2011

It'll be the last sailing before dry-dock...

 

I was happy to read your good reviews

hope we'll have a great time

 

We picked this cruise for its itinerary which we find to be a good mix of sightseeing and relaxing with the 5 sea days...

 

we'll have to "readapt" to the size of the ship though as we've benn on Voyager class ships on our last three cruises

 

I know I'll miss the promenade in the evening but should enjoy the sun more

we've booked a large balcony ;)

 

How is the outside area of the Windjammer?

I have to admit I'm dying to test that!

That has always been a big disappointment for to have to eat inside with the a/c while cruising in the carribbean...!

 

Also , did anyone use the Adventure Ocean (kids clu)?

 

Toonye